The case for restructuring of Nigeria is surely alive except that academics seem to have seized it from the career politicians since December 2023 when Prof Attahiru asserted the imperative of restructuring. Prof Badejo, a former Dean of the Faculty of Science offers his own take on the same topic in this paper presented at the unveiling of the New Leader and Declaration of Apapo Egbe Omo Yoruba Oodua at the OAU Staff Club, Ile-Ife on 7th September 2025!
By Prof Tola Badejo
The British had wanted to grant Nigeria independence in 1957. I believe that students of History here today know why it was not possible until 3 years after. A section of this country opposed it.
We eventually got our independence in 1960. Federalism was at its peak pre- and post- independence. The regions had preference for different styles of development. There was free education in Western Region but not in the Eastern Region. I guess there was also free education in the North but it was not announced openly as a policy.
The 1966 Coup aborted our path to true Federalism when Aguiyi Ironsi made a ‘restructuring’ by abrogating our federal structure and promulgating a unitary (centralized) government. Many blame him for that today but at least he did something by way of restructuring. The military and civilian governments that ruled us after him restructured the country in the following ways: state creation, revenue allocation formula, systems of government, administrative styles and development outcomes. Some gave the Federal Government giant shares while some gave them less than the state governments. There was confusion everywhere.
Restructuring is the standard way to ensure that no citizen of Nigeria is being cheated for too long. The restructuring we need today is one that prunes perquisites and luxuries of political officeholders and releases the same funds for the majority of the citizenry. We need restructuring that will unleash productivity and efficiency so that we can somehow begin to try and catch up with the rest of developed nations. Our approach to restructuring must be clear-headed, people-oriented, and driven by a desire for development and progress.
Chief Emeka Anyaoku , the emergent leader of The Patriots, leading protagonists of restructuring
On June 16 this year, at a one-day legislative dialogue on constitutional review and national security architecture, organised by the House Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser, the President said the current centralized security system has outlived its usefulness, warning that failure to realign the Constitution with Nigeria’s realities poses a grave threat to national unity. The President said further that the debate over state police is no longer theoretical. It is grounded in the daily fears and anxieties of Nigerians such as farmers being afraid to tend their fields, traders being unsure of safe passage, and communities abandoned to self-help. The President went ahead to describe Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution as foundational to its democracy but outdated in dealing with modern security threats. He cited the rising complexity of terrorism, cybercrime, farmer-herder conflicts, piracy, and separatist agitations as clear indicators that the current legal framework is inadequate to secure Nigeria’s vast and diverse territory. He called for bold constitutional amendments that would move policing from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, enabling states with capacity and political will to establish their own Police forces. He said such a move would ensure more accountable, community-based policing while preserving federal coordination and oversight. He stressed that Nigeria must adopt the global best practices which is adapting decentralised policing models that enhance local accountability without sacrificing national oversight. This has added Federal weight to growing calls from governors, traditional leaders, and civil society for state police as a solution to Nigeria’s overstretched and often underperforming security agencies. State Policing is an integral part of the restructuring that Nigeria needs at the moment. This is just one of the aspects of restructuring that our country needs desperately.
Let me at this juncture summarize what restructuring of the Nigerian Federation entails:
- Altering the constitution of Nigeria in the Second Schedule, Parts I & II to reduce the heavily over-loaded governmental powers of Federal Government in the Exclusive Legislative List (Part I) and transferring the same to the favour of the States of the Federation under the Concurrent List in Part II.
- Increasing the legislative jurisdiction of the sub-nationals (States & Local Government Areas) so that by the principles of devolution and subsidiarity have an almost exclusive legislative and executive competence on matters of development peculiar to their territory and legal jurisdiction.
- Empowering the States to have autonomous executive and legislative powers in the areas of: (a) taxation, e.g. the Personal Income Tax (b) policing and law enforcement (c) education, science and technology, except nuclear technology, (d) railway, electricity generation and land use.
- Over all, it would lead to a drastic reduction in the cost of governance at all levels, which savings can then be transferred to the development account.
Thus, the Federal government would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction in fewer and more manageable areas of: foreign affairs, defence, money and central banking, nuclear research and technology and drugs and poison.
The merits of this will be:
- each State can grow and develop at its own pace. No more federal allocation and as such a cessation of wastes and duplicitous government agencies.
- competitive rather than distributive and dependent federalism.
- greater development at the grassroots level.
- better economic planning
- better security at the sub-national level. This will mean that each state has its own police and other law enforcement agencies while the federal government continues to secure only federal assets.
- through enhanced jurisdiction over land use, every state would mind its natural resources including oil and gas but would only pay royalties to the centre.
- the grassroots will be more involved in their own governance as failure to do would damnify their interest and future. There’ll be no Federal Government to call upon for any bailout. So, citizens had better elect the best amongst them and not jesters who have no business handling anything developmental.
Restructuring is a song on the lips of many Nigerians. It has trended for decades and seems to be an inter-generational topical issue in Nigeria. The persistent call for restructuring takes numerous dimensions, but particularly outstanding is in the dimension of politics. It is no surprise though, because the philosophy behind the existence of every state and the control of its resources bothers on politics. Therefore, when there is a damaged cog in the wheel of the politics of the state, it becomes imperative to politically restructure the state. Since this is so, the big question then becomes ‘what is the damaged cog in the wheel of the politics of Nigeria that is a necessity for restructuring? What are the challenges of political restructuring in Nigeria? And what is the way forward?’ It is in a bid to fill this gap that many authors have tried to answer the above questions through analytical studies of a number of restructuring opinions.
It has been established that ensuring the peaceful coexistence of Nigerian multiethnic nationalities as one peaceful entity called Nigeria and effecting of rapid and competitive development of the different regions of the country among other factors consists of the need for restructuring while elite interest, fear of ethnic dominations, political idiosyncrasy among others construe the challenges facing political restructuring in Nigeria. There is therefore an urgent need for re- federalization, value reorientation, institutional re-strengthening, ethnic representation amongst others as the solution to restructuring issues in Nigeria.
Let me share with you suggestions of Political Science scholars on how the restructuring that we desperately need in Nigeria deserves to be achieved.
- The country should be re-federalized in such a way that the ill-federal practices are abrogated.
- The political structure of Nigeria should be made cooperative federalism instead of pseudo-federalism so that the ethno-regional entities interests would be mutually integrated in the formation of a serene socio-political structured Nigeria.
- The Nigerian government institutions should be re-strengthened in such a way that they are made viable in performance and impenetrable by corruption so that they can easily implement political restructuring should it be adopted.
- The entire citizens of Nigeria irrespective of tribe or region of origin should be value re-oriented and psychologically engineered towards understanding the need for both unity in their diversities and advantage of politically restructuring the country into an egalitarian society. This will also make them to change their non-judgmental (laissez faire) attitude and embark on a nationalistic call for restructuring without fear of suppression.
- The 1999 constitution should be abolished and re-enacted following a democratic process to lay foundation for true federalism in practice, with sufficient citizenry consultation and referendum. Attempts at writing a new constitution should be bottom-up not top-down.
- There should be periodic constitutional review and conference (at least every five years) involving all ethno-regional entities and states of the federation to checkmate the functionality of the Nigerian federalism and integrate the interests of the minorities in governance.
- The contents of all the legislative lists should be re-shared and made to reflect the coordinate nature of all levels of government.
- There should be equal representation of all ethno-regional entities in all affairs of the country especially in the appointment of people into government offices.
- There should be revolutionary expunge of pseudo-federalist practices and any culprit attempting it should be severely punished.
- The state government should be allowed to engage in their own policing to ensure effective security of lives and properties.
- The country should be structured to have regional equality in number of states and local governments, land mass and population.
- There should be meritocratic adherence to the principles of federal character of the country and not using it as an instrument of favouritism for any region of the country.
- The state governments of the country should have ultimate right to exploit and utilize the resources within their territorial domain and remit taxes to the federal government.
- The states of the federation which have other mineral resource other than oil should also be included in the operation of derivation principle.
Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore was too diverse to be a nation but that they had to mould it into a nation
I read it somewhere that the President said Nigeria will soon have a new constitution. This is a welcome idea as long as the approach is bottom-up and not top-down.
We should borrow a leaf from the Singaporean experience. A country that did not gain independence through struggle, negotiation or referendum, but through outright rejection. Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian Federation on August 9, 1965. The Malaysian Parliament voted unanimously to remove Singapore from the Federation. Lew Kuan Yew a fourth generation Chinese Singaporean became the founding Prime Minister and he turned the landscape of hardship that Malaysia was into one of the most prosperous, secure and efficient nations on Earth.
Lee Kuan Yew declared war on corruption, enforced transparent governance and institionalized meritocracy, rewarding ability and not privilege. Lew Kuan Yew built a nation that refused to fail and a people who learned never to wait for charity but to earn dignity through order, labour and pride. That is exactly what Nigeria deserves to be in the immediate future. The big question is: Is Nigerian citizenry prepared to elect a leader like Lee Kwan Yew in the next political dispensation?
In conclusion, I would like to state unequivocally that the issue of restructuring needs a very urgent attention in this multiethnic contraption of many nations that are forced to exist in one country. All Nigerians and their political office holders should stop paying lip service on the issue of restructuring the Nigerian political structure. A joint effort towards restructuring the Nigerian federalism will make Nigeria a better country where needless tensions and conflicts are minimal and where the sub-national governments are not reduced to mere appendages. Therefore, to achieve this, urgent steps should be taken in the execution of the recommendations suggested above so as to change the status quo to one that will work despite the multifarious ethnic-regional nationalities in the country.
This in my opinion should occupy the front burner in the future activities of Apapo Egbe Omo Yoruba Ooduwa.
